Timing is Everything

I've figured out that the use of Aleve (Naproxen), which is an over-the-counter NSAID, timed correctly with using (valium) diazepam, does a pretty decent job of keeping the volume of the tinnitus down.  It's not gone, but it's not like having an ice pick jabbed in the eye either.

What I need to do is keep very accurate timing of when the drugs wear off and the ringing increases, so that I can dose again before it does.  I could use some sort of alarm clock to beep me at the right time.

Using an NSAID is like junior steroids, and so it does fuck up my sleep.  I had the neurologist give me a script for Ambien, but what that does is put you to sleep quickly, and lasts for about 2 hours.  I'm waking up after 4 or 5 hours now with that wired feeling.  There are sleeping pills that last for closer to 8 hours (I forget the name, but John's used it before), so depending on how this goes, I might ask the doc for that instead of the Ambien.

The thing is.. I'm trying very hard to limit the use of medications, because that shit will fuck things up.  I never should have been on the Zoloft or the Nortriptaline, and coming off that is a mother fucker.  I'm still having brain zaps and dizziness because I stopped way too fast - from what I'm reading, that's also a dangerous thing to do.  I wasn't depressed in the first place.  I had some anxiety problems when this first started happening, but using a benzo to knock that down when it happens is what I should have been doing... not putting me on meds that completely change the chemistry and functioning of the brain.

Ambien is addicting also, and is a shit addiction to have.  I'm only going to use it if I've been awake for a couple days.. that sort of thing.  This is the complete opposite of when I wasn't on the NSAID, but rather the other drugs, because I was sleeping about half the day.

I should find out in the next day or so when I'll have an ACTH stimulation test.  Based on the results of the steroid treatment I had a couple months ago, and what the NSAID is doing for the tinnitus, I think this is going to lead to some positive results.

The idea is to find out what the fuck the problem is, and address that, and not have me on some major fucking meds that aren't really fixing the problem, but trying to mask it.

I've made a lot of mistakes in trying to get better from this problem, but in my defense, I've never had any illness that wasn't straightforward and understandable before.